Principal Message

Translations and accessibility options are available at the top of the page.

• Amharic: የትርጉም አማራጮችን ለማግኘት እዚህ ጠቅ ያድርጉ

• Arabic: الرجاء الضغط هنا للترجمة العربية.

• Simplified Chinese: 点击这里查看中文翻译.
• Traditional Chinese: 點擊這裡查看中文翻譯.
• French: Cliquez ici pour accéder aux options de traduction
• Haitian Creole: Klike la a pou tradiksyon kreyòl ayisyen an.
• Hebrew: אנא לחץ כאן לצפייה במסמך בעברית.
• Japanese: ここをクリックして日本語の翻訳にアクセスしてください.
• Korean: 한국어 번역을 보시려면 여기를 클릭하십시오.
• Portuguese: Clique aqui para a tradução em português.
• Russian: Нажмите здесь, чтобы получить доступ к русскому переводу.
• Spanish: Haga clic aquí para acceder a la traducción al español.
• Vietnamese: Nhấn vào đây để truy cập bản dịch tiếng Việt.

Runkle's 6th graders traveled to Hale Reservation in Westwood on September 18th for an amazing day of team-building and adventure. Thank you to the teachers and parents who made this happen. We are grateful to Runkle's PTO for their financial support with our first Runkle field trip!

Dear Runkle School Community,

As we approach October 7th, we recognize that the ongoing conflict and continuing humanitarian crisis in the Middle East makes this a challenging, emotionally fraught milestone for many in our community.

At this moment and always, we center a culture of care and concern here at Runkle. We also ensure that when children and families need help we activate to provide what is needed. Should this moment bring on additional worry, sadness, or confusion for your child, please let us know. Your child’s classroom teacher, our Guidance team, and Mr. Pelton and I are here to learn from you about what you may need.

Your student may need a quiet place to reflect or talk. Runkle’s administrators, guidance counselors (Lauren Snickenberger, K-4, and Rebecca Sneider, 5-8), social worker (Alexandra Ross), and school psychologist (Rachel Mekler) are available to support students as needed.

I also take this moment to reiterate that there is no place for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia in our community. We will vigorously confront language or acts that make others feel emotionally or physically unsafe and/or directly impact the security of our learning community.

Please be especially mindful of your social media and news intake. Important anniversaries such as this tend to dominate your personal news and social media feeds – AND your child’s social media feed – leading to deeper feelings of worry and helplessness.

Above all, take this moment to commit or recommit to the good and valuable works we can do right here in our own community. When so much help is needed in a part of the world so far away, having a personal drive towards usefulness and compassion can be a buoy in a complicated time.

With Kindness,

Donna

Our middle school sports programs are underway. Volleyball tryouts were this week. The schedules for Girls and Boys Games are linked HERE. Games start on Wednesday, October 2nd. The girls' team (Coach Schultz) will be practicing on Monday afternoons at 2:30 pm. The boys' team (Coach Zobel) will practice on Thursdays at 2:30 with an additional practice this Tuesday, October 1st at 3:00 pm.

The Cross Country Team (Coaches Hack and Sennott) started running this week. Grades 5 and 6 run on Wednesdays from 3-4 pm. Grades 7 and 8 run on Thursdays from 3-4 pm. The town-wide Cross Country Meet is at Larz Anderson Park on Friday, October 18th from 2-5:30 pm. Families will need to provide their students with transportation to Larz Anderson on the 18th.

We've noticed an increasing number of students forgetting to bring necessary materials to school:

• Snacks
• Lunches
• Chromebooks/Chargers
• Water bottles

This is causing disruptions to the learning environment as students leave their classrooms to retrieve forgotten items or call home for delivery. To minimize disruptions, students who forget materials will need to manage without them for the day. We understand that this may be inconvenient, but it's important to maintain focus and minimize classroom interruptions. Students without chromebooks will be given hardcopies of class assignments.

Please check that your students bring all necessary materials to school each day, especially their charged chromebooks and chargers.

Thank you for your cooperation in helping us maintain a productive and efficient learning environment.

We are very excited to share that the John D. Runkle School has been named a 2024 Massachusetts School of Recognition.

As part of its annual accountability reporting process, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) identifies a small number of Schools of Recognition. These schools demonstrate progress toward annual accountability targets, with an emphasis on the performance of all students in the school and the school's lowest performing students group.

This year, Runkle was in an elite group of only 50 schools statewide to receive this distinction. Congratulations to the Runkle community of Students and Staff! Donna Finnegan, principal, will share more information about the award at our School Site Council Meeting on October 23rd and the PTO meeting on October 9th.

We want to alert families who enter our 1st grade/3rd grade door off of Chesham St. to a few changes. The Parks Department has fenced off the hill next to the path to the door. They are in the process of reseeding the lawn. The master plan is to build a small curb/retaining wall along our path to keep the mud and water from flooding the concrete. This turns to ice in the cold weather and had been dangerous for students and families in the past. It would be great for families to start dropping their students at the sidewalk to avoid congestion. There is a plan to create another entrance between the bushes on Chesham St. that will lead to a path behind the Peace Garden. We do not know when this construction will be completed. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

The METCO late bus will be starting next week on Monday, September 30th. It will run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Runkle pick up will be at 4:15 pm. This bus is for METCO students in grades 4-8 who are staying after school for sports or academic support. There is no bus monitor. The students need to be attentive on the bus and be on their best behavior. Please email tamara_gonzalez@psbma.org to register your student for the late bus.

K - Friday, 9/27 from 8:15-9:00 am

1 - Friday, 9/27 from 8:00-8:30 am

2 - Thursday, 10/17 from 7:50-8:40 am

3 - Wednesday, 10/2 from 7:50-8:40 am

4 - Friday, 10/18 from 1-2 pm

5 - Tuesday, 10/1 from 7:45-8:30 am

Middle School - Wednesday, 10/9, from 5-6:30 pm (time may change)

Thursday, October 3rd - School Closed – Rosh Hashanah

Tuesday, October 8th - Picture Day!!!

Wednesday, October 9th - Virtual PTO meeting at 8:00 pm

Monday, October 14th - School Closed - Indigenous People Day

Thursday, October 17th - ART BARN for Grades 1-6

Wednesday, October 23rd - Runkle School Site Council at 4:15 pm in the library

Friday, October 25th - Runkle Halloween Fair!

Monday, October 30 through Thanksgiving - Donations for clothing and toiletries will be collected outside of our guidance offices. Please see PTO Newsletter for specific information.